Steeet railway switch



(No Model.)

J. P. HOLEDGER. STREET RAILWAY SWITCH xPPIJAmBi No. 482,903. PatentedSept. zo, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JAMES POLK HOLEDGER, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

STREET-RAILWAY-SWITCH APPLIANCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,903, datedSeptember 20, 1892.

Application tiled January 11, 1892. Serial No. 417,703. (No model.) I

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAMEs PoLK HOLEDGER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington,have invented a new and useful Automatic Street-Railway-SwitchAppliance, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and original device by whichstreet-railway switches may be adjusted either way by the gripman andnot impede the progress of the car. Therefore the object of my inventionis to render it unnecessary to relax or stop the car while adjusting theswitch, as heretofore, and at the same time to greatly facilitate theworking of switches. This I accomplish by a stirrup bolted to the bottomof the car, which holds two vertical rebounding pedal-rods provided withantifriction bevel-rollers, which operate in conjunction with awedge-shape block or shoe that is connected with the switch by means ofa horizontal bar. I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a top view of theswitch, the horizontal connecting-bar, and the shoe as it appears whenabout to be adjusted to the right by the antifriction bevel-roller. Fig.2 is a vertical section of the entire device, showing its connectionwith the car and the switch; and Fig. 3, a detailed view in perspectiveof the device cut off from the car.

Similar letters refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

The table or guide-plate A, its hangers B B B, and their braces O Cconstitute the framework of the con trivance, which is secured to thebottom of the car-frame with bolts. Through plate A pass rods D D, whichare held up from obstruction by spiral springs and provided at the lowerend with antifriction bevel-rollers E E. (Referred to hereinafter.) TheVertical rods D D, passing through the car-floor and guide-plate A, areprovided at the lower end with antifriction-rollers E E, so that thereciprocation of the shoe F may be accompanied with as little frictionas possible. On plate A rest two spiral springs, secured at the upperend by means of washers pinned to the vertical rods D D, around whichthey coil. These spiral springs are for the purpose of holding up therollers E E until they are utilized in adjusting the switch I, asillustrated in Fig. 2. To the shoe F is connected the horizontal bar G,'which s bedded into the curbing or foundation between the tracks andsecured from any friction with the wood curbing by means of clamps HI-I, which are provided with holes for lubrication. The other extremeend of the horizontal bar G is drawn out round and turned up and hookedinto a cavity provided for that purpose on the under side of the switchI.

The antifriction-rollers E E, previously re-V ferred to and shownthroughout the several views, are beveled to suit the shoe F, so thatthe rollers E E may slip od the shoe F in case there be any obstructionabout the switch I that would cause it to become blocked and impair anypart of the device. The shoe F is a block of wood banded with ironsufficiently thick and strong enough to resist the shock of anything itmay come in contact with. This band of iron is rounded oft on the topedge to further resist obstruction, while at the lower edge it is lnadesharp, in order for it to clear the space for the shoe F to slip. Thetwo parallel edges of the shoe F are to provide a straight run for therollers E E to .assure no rebounding of the switch I when adjusted.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The combination, in an automatic streetrailway-switch appliance, of astirrup or frame bolted to the bottom of the car-frame, two verticalrebounding pedal-rods held thereby, said rods provided with antifrictionbevel-rollers, and a wedge-shaped block or shoe connected with theswitch-tongue by means of a horizontal bar and adapted to be operated bysaid pedal-rods, all substantially as set forth.

JAMES POLK HOLEDGER.

Witnesses:

GILEs W. CLARK, GEORGE L. Tnnr.

